NOTICE BOARD

APRIL 2002

Good progress was made when the WBO held their meeting in Germany last November with delegates attending from Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eire, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States of America.

Delegates have agreed the complete work, previously circulated, on the Colour Standards, Scale of Points, Guidelines for Judges & Exhibitors and Standard of Perfection after some minor alterations.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the demonstration of a budgerigar model, with the aid of the computer, by Gerd Bleicher (German delegate), which can be rotated and viewed from all angles. The demonstration was prepared in two sizes of the budgerigar. The demonstration was to show the possibility of the technique involved. The computer program is based on single pictures of the model, which are combined by an interpolation program to get the image of rotation. Further work can include the same technique, but in a higher resolution of pictures and with the possibility of zooming as well.

All delegates were quite impressed with the computer technique and the next step is now for the WBO to have its own model and use the same technique again and to produce a CD-ROM for each member country/society.

Next WBO Meeting

The next WBO meeting is scheduled in Doncaster, England for Friday 15^th November. The meeting will be held before the BS Club Show on 16^th & 17^th November and all WBO delegates are invited to attend the Saturday night "Gala Dinner" at the Moat House Hotel to join in the celebrations.

Ring Specification & Colour Sequence

At the last WBO meeting delegates also adopted a Ring Specification as follows:

Minimum internal diameter 4.20 mm

Maximum internal diameter 4.40 mm

Wall thickness 0.60 - 0.90 mm

Ring height 3.85 - 4.00 mm

The WBO adopted the following 6-year cycle ring colour sequence, which was effective as from 1997. The colour sequence is as follows:

Member societies are strongly reminded that when ordering rings from any ring manufacturer to specify the exact WBO ring colour and the new ring specification to avoid any misunderstanding by ring manufacturers.

International Judges Panel

A WBO International Judges Panel was created in 1996 and to be eligible for inclusion on this Panel a Judge must meet the following criteria:

1. be a current champion breeder and exhibitor of Budgerigars in their own country.

2. be fully qualified judge for a minimum of 5-years in their own country.

3. apply in writing to their National Society to be placed on the list. The National Society will then be responsible for checking their qualifications and, if eligible, for passing names, addresses and telephone numbers to the WBO Secretary for inclusion on the list.

It was also agreed that member countries should consider inviting judges from overseas who are members of the International Judges Panel, as approved by the WBO, to judge at shows that are under their jurisdiction. A WBO International Judges List is available from the Secretary on request.

WBO Rosettes

Each member country/society will be receiving their two rosettes for Best Any Age & Best Young Bird in Show during the summer. Countries are requested to send back the Patronage Return Form with the names of the two winners to the Secretary soon after their shows.

Holland

I am very pleased to report that, after much negotiation, the two budgerigar societies in Holland have decided to merge together as one society as from 1^st January 2002. I refer to the Nederlandse Parkieten Club (NPC formed in 1965) and the Budgerigar Society of Holland (BSH formed in 1985). The name of the new society is Nederlandse Grasparkieten Club - Dutch Budgerigar Society (NGC-DBS). We extend our best wishes to our friends in Holland for this merger.

Other News

Research article on Megabacteria, by Dr. Colin Walker from Australia, was sent to all member societies for publication in their own magazines.

Roger Carr was re-elected Chairman for a further two years (2002/2003).

For further comments on any of the above items please do not hesitate to contact me.

Secretary/Treasurer

August 2001

Next WBO Meeting
The next WBO meeting is scheduled in Germany for Monday 5^th November 2001 in the town of Siegen, to commence at noon. The Headquarters hotel is the Best Western Park Hotel Siegen, Koblenzer Stra ße 135, 57072 Siegen (Tel: 02 71 33810).

 The meeting will be held after the DSV Club Show on 3^rd & 4^th November and all WBO delegates are invited to attend the Saturday night "Exhibitors' Evening" to join in the celebrations. Please make sure you book early and quote "DSV" on your booking form to benefit from the special hotel booking rates.

WBO Colour Standards
The WBO Standards Sub-Committee consisting of Roger Carr (Chairman), Ghalib Al-Nasser (Secretary), Gerd Bleicher (Germany), Jacques Barre (France) and Grant Findlay (United Kingdom) have attended meetings spread over the past 4 years to formulate the above Standards.

 The work was completed last December which was based on the Budgerigar Society (U.K.) Colour Standards 1998 with very minor alterations to suit various language translations and with further additions of Colour Standards for new varieties.

 The completed work on the Colour Standards (47 pages) includes:

Standard of Perfection
Scale of Points
Main Features of a Budgerigar
Guidelines for Judges and Exhibitors
Colour Standards (40 pages)

The above work was sent to all countries/societies in January 2001, through their WBO delegates, for comments/approval by the end of July. All comments will be passed on to the Standards Sub-Committee for action. The whole document will then be put to Delegates at the next meeting in November for final approval. It is hoped that after that date member countries will adopt the WBO Colour Standards as their own.

WBO Show Cage
The WBO is producing a sample cage for each country/society at a reduced rate of 15 pounds sterling. It is hoped that with this sample cage together with the WBO show cage specification and drawing, countries will adopt it as their own cage for the future.

It was also recognised that for National reasons slight variations with the show cage may occur.

Australia
I am very pleased to report that Australia, through their Australian National Budgerigar Council (ANBC), have now joined our ranks and paid their fee for two years. This is a momentous step forward for our Organisation where the Budgerigar Motherland has become a member. A tremendous effort has been made by Warren Wilson, President of the New South Wales State Organisation, to encourage delegates at the ANBC to see the benefits of Australia joining.

Ring Colour Sequence
The WBO adopted the following 6-year cycle ring colour sequence, which was effective as from 1997. The colour sequence is as follows:

 International Judges Panel
A WBO International Judges Panel was created and to be eligible for inclusion on this Panel a judge must meet the following criteria:

a.         be a current champion breeder and exhibitor of Budgerigars in their own country.

b.         be fully qualified judge for a minimum of 5-years in their own country.

c.          apply in writing to their National Society to be placed on the list. The National Society will then be responsible for checking their qualifications and, if eligible, for passing names, addresses and telephone numbers to the WBO Secretary for inclusion on the list.

It was also agreed that member countries should consider inviting judges from overseas who are members of the International Judges Panel, as approved by the WBO, to judge at shows that are under their jurisdiction. A WBO International Judges List is available from the Secretary.

WBO Rosettes
Each member country/society has now received their two rosettes for Best Any Age & Best Young Bird in Show. Countries are requested to send back the Patronage Return Form with the names of the winners to the Secretary soon after their shows.

If you have any comments on any of the above items please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ghalib Al-Nasser
Secretary/Treasurer
ghalib.alnasser@gmail.com